Bruins Won't Look Like The Bruins In Season Finale Vs. Capitals
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Bruins will end their regular season with a playoff preview of their upcoming series against the Washington Capitals. But not really.
Most of Boston's regular players will be spectators on Tuesday night in D.C., as Bruce Cassidy is giving his top players some extra rest in advance of the postseason, which begins on Saturday night.
Speaking from the team hotel, Cassidy rattled off the list of players who won't be suiting up on Tuesday night:
FORWARDS
Patrice Bergeron
Brad Marchand
David Pastrnak
David Krejci
Taylor Hall
Craig Smith
Sean Kuraly
Charlie Coyle
Ondrej KaseDEFENSEMEN
Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk
Mike Reilly
Brandon Carlo
Jeremy Lauzon
Kevan MillerGOALTENDERS
Tuukka Rask
Of that group, only Kase is known to be out due to health, though Charlie Coyle has missed the past week due to an upper-body injury. Coyle is expected to be ready to go come Saturday night though.
With nothing to gain or lose in the standings, and with the first-round date with Washington already set, Cassidy said Tuesday night is more about self-evaluation of depth players than anything else.
"From our perspective, we are basically a little bit banged up. So we're gonna use that opportunity to give guys maintenance days," Cassidy said. "Other guys are in the lineup to show maybe what does our fourth line look like in this particular environment. Who are the depth guys who would come in first, second, and third at each position. So you get another look at them."
Cassidy added: "We want to stick to Bruins hockey. We're just doing it with some of our guys that are more depth players."